Ever made friends with a fish? Didn't think so. They're generally not amenable to humans, and fair enough too: we eat them. But the good thing about video games is that we can do things otherwise impossible, and thanks to Unknown Worlds, we can now be friends with a "Cuddle Fish" in Subnautica.

"The Cuddle Fish is an adorable companion creature," the update reads. "You may find Cuddle Fish eggs hidden around the world. Those eggs can be incubated in an Alien Containment module, and will eventually hatch into a Cuddle Fish."

So is the fish an alien then? Apparently so, but never mind, because its alien-ness is what imbues it with the ability to follow you everywhere, and to stay in a specific place if you command it to. There aren't really any other benefits to having a Cuddle Fish, but there doesn't need to be any other damned reasons to have a Cuddle Fish.

The video below shows off the Cuddle Fish in action. The update is available now.

Hyakki Castle sets classic party-based dungeon crawling in an Edo period castle, pitting character classes such as Samurai and Ninja against "vivid monsters and supernatural creatures from Japanese literature." Based on the trailer above, I think it's fair to identify it as something like a Japanese Legend of Grimrock—that being the best and most recent first-person dungeon crawling series I can think of. 

Outside of the theme, the most fundamental difference in Hyakki, at least as far as we can see from the trailer, is that your party can be split into two groups (2-2 or 3-1) and sent off to do different things, or attack enemies from different positions.  "For instance, one character can lure a monster while the other three lay in wait for an ambush," reads the press release, "or the party can split to flank a monster or to solve a puzzle."

Party splitting is a novel idea, and I'm excited to see what sort of puzzles the system makes possible, though I do wonder how the complexity will pair with a genre already steeped in it.  Developer Asakusa Studios—which is based in  Asakusa, Japan, naturally—and publisher Happinet are bringing Hyakki Castle to Steam this winter, so we'll be able to give it a go in short order.

Call of Duty: WWII will get a PC beta on September 29, and the good news is you won't have to preorder to get access – anyone can jump aboard. It'll run for a whole weekend before wrapping up on October 2, and it'll take place on Steam.

According to Sledgehammer Games in their announcement, the beta is designed to stress test "core gameplay systems and online backend infrastructure at scale". It's also designed to give PC users a hands-on period with the game while the studio goes about its business fine tuning and optimising.

Here are the minimum required specs, but these won't necessarily apply to the full game, Sledgehammer warns. Recommended specs are still forthcoming.

OS: Windows 7 64-Bit or laterCPU: Intel® Core™ i3 3225 or equivalentRAM: 8 GB RAMHDD: 25 GB HD spaceVideo: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 660 @ 2 GB / AMD Radeon™ HD 7850 @ 2GB or betterDirectX: Version 11.0 compatible video card or equivalentNetwork: Broadband Internet connectionSound Card: DirectX Compatible

Hollow Knight is getting its second major expansion this Halloween, which is on October 31 if the annual tradition of looting neighbours isn't your thing. Dubbed The Grimm Troupe, it'll add a major new quest, new boss fights, new charms, enemies and "friends".

According to Team Cherry's update, the new quest will involve lighting a nightmare lantern in order to summon a Grimm Troupe to Hallownest. "Take part in a twisted ritual that stretches the breadth of the kingdom and bestows the player with a powerful new ally," promises the description.

Meanwhile, details are pretty scarce regarding the new bosses and charms, but rest assured they'll be there, and there are four of the latter. In addition to the new friends, new music and new enemies, you'll also be able to use map markers – a huge quality of life improvement, considering Hollow Knight's size.

Bayek, the main guy of the upcoming Assassin's Creed: Origins, is (as far as I know, anyway) the "original Assassin." And you can't have an Assassin's Brotherhood without a Templar Order, right? Or in this case, as is thematically appropriate, their progenitors, The Order of the Ancients. 

The video doesn't explicitly state that the Ancients are the proto-Templars, but it seems obvious enough to me. They lust for power, they pull strings from the shadows, they wear cool headgear, and they are utterly in control and unassailable in every possible way—except for that one guy, who always seems able to spoil their parties at the worst possible moment. 

A few commenters on YouTube have pointed out that Cleopatra, in Assassin's Creed canon, was actually supported by the Templars and eventually offed by an Egyptian Assassin, Amunet. But her death occurred in 30 BCE, 19 years after the events of Origins, and that's a lot of time for political leanings to evolve. It also sets up a possible betrayal twist somewhere in the game, although that's probably a little too obvious—at least until the inevitable Assassin's Creed: Origins - Cleopatra Rising DLC.   

(I just made that up. There is no such DLC.) 

Assassin's Creed: Origins comes out on October 27. We recently got some hands-on with the game that you can dive into right here. 

The Humble Store is giving away another old-time classic as part of its End of Summer Sale: Psychonauts, the Double Fine adventure-platformer about a kid with a cool hat who goes off to summer camp.   

I have mixed feelings about Psychonauts. I loved the writing, the voice acting, and the bizarre, beautiful game world that was filled with things to discover. But the platforming could be repetitive, and often outright infuriating. I never did finish it—I ran out of patience midway through the godawful Meat Circus, and decided I was close enough to the end to call it a day. 

I've never gone back, in part because I don't want to spoil the magic of the memories, but "free" is awfully tempting, and according to the Wiki the level has been made considerably easier in the Steam release. Which is what you'll get with this Humble freebie: Go here, add it to your cart, and after you check out you'll be emailed a Steam code.   

Since we're here, a few other Humble Store deals of note:

• Metro Redux bundle: $7.50
• Darkest Dungeon: $10
• The Talos Principle: $10
• Luftrausers: $2.50
• And one more, let's see... How about Shadow Warrior 2 Deluxe for $25 (the regular edition is on for $20, but the soundtrack alone is worth the extra fiver)

The Humble Store End of Summer Sale runs until 10 am PT on September 21, while Psychonauts will be free until the same time on September 16. 

Some online stores give us a small cut if you buy something through one of our links. Read our affiliate policy for more info.

Well, um, if you use the mod that removes Creation Club news from Fallout 4's main menu that I wrote about yesterday, you may have missed this Creation Club news: a few items from Bethesda's content shop are discounted or free for a limited time. Both the 'horse armor' and Morgan's space suit from Prey are free at the moment, and items like the modular military backpack and modern furniture workshop pack are 25% off.

It's not clear how long a 'limited time' is, and after clicking around Bethesda's site for a minute I didn't see an end date listed for this sale and giveaway. If you want some freebies or discounted items, I'd jump on it quickly. By the way, I recently bought  $15 worth of Creation Club stuff, if you're curious about what else the shop currently offers.

Bethesda has released a new trailer to mark tomorrow's release of Dishonored: Death of the Outsider that features Billie Lurk, the one-time right-hand of the master assassin Daud, demonstrating her considerable talent for killing things. 

"In her effort to rid the world of the Outsider—the mysterious godlike figure looming over the Dishonored games—Billie has some of the coolest powers, weapons and gadgets we’ve ever designed," Bethesda said. "And the missions she embarks upon will take you deep into Karnaca, hunting for Billie’s old mentor, the underworld legend Daud, then beyond Karnaca to the blackest reaches of the Void." 

I like Dishonored a lot, but the trailer highlights the one thing about the series that really bugs me: The series is "all about ultra-powerful supernatural assassins navigating a corrupt, decaying steampunk empire," but you'll be penalized for overindulging in it. Billie in the trailer is clearly on a path to a high-chaos ending, and some players are going to be perfectly fine with. But as much as Dishonored ever offers a happy ending, you need to keep all the supernatural assassinating to a relative minimum if you want to get it. 

That said, punching people out is a-okay, and a quiet approach can be fun—especially since both Emily and Corvo are handy enough in a fight that botching it doesn't necessarily force a quickload. Bethesda recommended giving stealth a chance in its list of hints and tips for Dishonored newcomers: 

• Don’t feel constrained to stick to one particular playstyle. We encourage you to experiment during your first playthrough!
• Always look around for alternate pathways: side alleys, back doors, unlocked windows, overhead balconies, rooftops, and waterways. And be sure to look up! Go vertical when you can, along ledges, rooftops, pipes, etc. You can often sneak past an encounter that way or find an alternate entry or path.
• Give the stealth approach a shot. Sneaking, playing nonlethally, or even ghosting the missions adds even more tension and drama to situations.
• Our stealth model is mostly based on enemy view cones and occlusion. Darkness only matters at a distance, making you more hidden. Up close, enemy facing and field of view matters most so remember to stay behind them or something that blocks their line of sight. And don’t forget to lean! If your body is behind something like a wall, you can lean out to peek ahead.
• You can play the entire game without killing if you choose. For almost all the combat moves, there are nonlethal versions such as combat choke, drop attack and slide takedown.
• Distract enemies with sound by throwing a bottle or setting an alarm clock.   Eavesdrop on unaware enemies to absorb more information related to the world and the events unfolding around you. Similarly, read posted signs. Often characters have follow-up lines if you hang out and listen to them (or click on them further). You’ll absorb more about the world this way.
• Seek out Black Market shops to upgrade gear and buy more ammo.
• Use Foresight to locate more Bonecharms. Don’t forget to assign them and review your Bonecharm loadout periodically. Upgrade the number you can carry at Black Market shops.
• Change difficulty whenever you want. If you're an advanced player or really into stealth, we suggest you try playing on Hard.
• Be sure to check out the tutorial videos to learn more about the game mechanics.
• Quicksave is your friend.
• You can turn off the HUD UI, including goal markers. If you’re a minimalist, experiment with that.
• You can check out the calibration options screen to set your brightness so that black is really black for the best visual experience.

Dishonored: Death of the Outsider is available for pre-purchase for $30/£20/€30 on Steam.   

Galactic Civilizations 3, Stardock’s gargantuan space 4X game, got another update this week, bolstering the base game with some of the Crusade expansion’s UI and design changes, along with general performance and balance tweaks.

Crusade lavished improvements upon Galactic Civilizations 3, and while you’ll still need to shell out for the expansion to see most of them, some important ones have been ported over to the base game. 

The UI, from the tech screen to the ship list, has been upgraded, and it now contains the convenient summary tab from Crusade. The way resources work has also been taken from the expansion. Now, resources generate over time, instead of mined resources yielding only a single unit. Crusade’s performance and AI enhancements have also been brought over too.

Even if you’ve already got Crusade, you should notice improved performance, trickier AI opponents and faster turns.

Here are the full patch notes. 

It turns out that we won’t have to wait “a few days” after the launch of SteamWorld Dig 2 on Switch for it to come out on PC, as was originally announced. Image & Form Games have revealed the PC release date, and it’s only a day after it lands on Nintendo’s console: September 22. 

Now that you know when it’s coming out, why not watch the release date trailer again? 

And to get yourself in the digging mood, you can still download the original SteamWorld Dig for free courtesy of Origin. It’s a great mix of Metroidvania exploration and compulsive mining that’s worth checking out even when it’s not free.